The last couple of weeks have been exciting as I have been uncovering more and more what it means to be a qualitative researcher. I realized that coming into the class I still had the vision of the researcher always trying to be an outside observer, but with various class discussions I have come to realize that with qualitative research, the researcher is able to define their role. The concept of qualitative researchers trying to make sure their participants benefit from their studies has really opened my eyes to view the whole process differently.
This week I checked out a copy of Berta Pérez's Becoming Biliterate from the library - the book that made me realize a few years back that I was not ready to leave the classroom in quest of a doctoral degree yet, that I wanted to have the opportunity to teach in a dual immersion school. It was fascinating to reread about her process as a researcher and her methodology now that I have been studying about the topics and better understand those aspects. I started a document to record the ideas that I notice in different research studies. I also revisited a couple of articles that stood out to me and plan to reread Kim Potowski's Language and Identity in a Dual Immersion School sometime soon. I would have looked at it this weekend, but it was at the school.
Once again dissertation ideas are swirling around in my mind, and I am excited about the possibilities but still unsure about all the logistics, which is only natural since it is still early on in the process. I still catch myself wanting to do longer-term studies, so I will have to really make sure to put a limit on what I do for my dissertation. Yet, one of my professors talked about how her dissertation led into a longer study, as she continued to follow her participants. I have been considering how that might work for one of the topics that I have been thinking about the most lately.
For now one of my biggest questions is, out of all of the exciting areas to research, how do researchers decide on their topics? My multiple writer's notebook entries and Word documents with different ideas for research are a testament to the many different directions and angles that I could look at the topics that interest me. It will be a fun journey to see where my research leads me.
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